Aventura Technologies, of Commack, pleads guilty to selling Chinese goods marked as U.S.-made

A Commack-based company pleaded guilty Tuesday to a lucrative scheme in which it fraudulently sold Chinese-made surveillance and security equipment to federal agencies, while passing off the technology as American-made.

Aventura Technologies Inc. pleaded guilty in federal court in Central Islip through its attorney to mail and wire fraud conspiracy and illegal importation. As part of the deal, the company agreed to dissolve itself and forfeit more than $3 million in seized assets, including Aventura’s headquarters, a 70-foot yacht named Tranquilo valued at $700,000 and more than 7,000 seized items of merchandise.

All seven individuals charged in this case previously pleaded guilty, including Aventura’s nominal president Frances Cabasso and its true chief executive, her husband Jack Cabasso. The arrangement, officials said, was conceived for the firm to earn contracts reserved for women-owned businesses.

“For years, the defendants, while pretending to be a women-owned business, intentionally corrupted the U.S. military supply chain by passing off Chinese-made networked electronics with known vulnerabilities as American-made,” said Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Samuel Braverman, Aventura's Manhattan-based attorney, did not respond to a request for comment.

The Chinese-manufactured equipment included network surveillance cameras that federal authorities warn could have exposed the military and federal agencies to cyber surveillance and attack.

Some of the items, prosecutors said, were premarked “Made in USA” with an American flag and Aventura's logo before being shipped from China to the United States. Markings indicating Chinese provenance were removed.

The equipment fraudulently labeled as American-made, including body cameras for Air Force personnel, was placed on Army and Air Force bases, in Department of Energy facilities and at Navy installations and aircraft carriers, prosecutors said. The company also sold equipment to private sector customers.

Jack Cabasso, authorities said, went to extreme lengths to conceal the origins of the equipment, even writing to federal procurement officials to accuse his competitors of reselling Chinese-made goods.

The scheme began in 2006 and continued for 13 years until charges were brought in the case. Aventura made more than $112 million in sales during that time, officials said.

The investigation began after a tipster reported the schemes to the General Services Agency's inspector general hotline, officials said.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.